Talk:Aerie (4E)

Strength penalty

4E is more gamist than simulationist, and I have no problem with fey creatures being fairly strong for their weight. Races which have been less than cerebral in previous editions (Int -2 for orcs and -4 for minotaurs) no longer have a penalty, so I see no reason to introduce a new mechanism to give this race a special Strength penalty. Most players will probably use Str as a dump stat anyway.

Hmm... There are not very many Tiny creatures in the Monster Manual. I've never thought that an imps would be very strong, and it has a Strength score of 13 (MM page 63). --Urban 17:20, 13 November 2008 (CET)

Actually, the penalty is mostly flavor, and the race isn't really balanced around it -they all get Weapon Finesse for free and can only use the dagger (a light blade), so Strength basically does nothing for them. Its mostly there for verisimilitude. These gys are REALLY small now.

I can accept that they may need a strength penalty for flavour. It's the mechanism I'm opposed to. Ability score differences are smaller in 4E, and the halving is a new, too extreme, and in my opinion unnecessary mechanism. A "special -2 penalty to Strength" should be enough for flavor and more in line with how things work in 4E. That way, an Aerie character could conceivably learn Light Blade Specialization (Str 17, Dex 21) if they want to, but it is impossible now.

Your rule works if you mean that they purchase Strength normally and can use their base score to qualify for feat, and is halved for Strength rolls and effect in play. If so, it should be clarified. --Urban 12:19, 14 November 2008 (CET)

Actually, i made it a straight Strength penalty. Most Aeries will take Strength as a dump stat anyway, and the difference between 4 and 6 Strength is minimal. Tis way, it is POSSIBLE to make a (magically) strong aerie if you like.